We won our free play for Wednesday as Boston and Tampa Bay played under the total, and this was originally going to be another play on the ‘under’ between Calgary and Phoenix.  Really, that’s not a bad play either with the Coyotes having gone under in 19 of their 27 games this year and the Flames’ Mikka Kiprusoff playing outstanding at the moment with a 3-0 mark and a 0.33 GAA in his last three starts.  After some analysis, however, we’ve decided to take advantage of the Flames’ solid form and make a play on the side in this game:

CALGARY AT PHOENIX

The Flames are atop the NHL’s Northwestern Division at the moment in large part due to their stellar 10-1-2 mark away from home.  They haven’t lost a game in regulation on the road since early October (the only time they’ve done so this season) and face a Phoenix team that has been something of a punching bag for them in recent years.  The Flames are currently on a 17-5-1 run against the Coyotes and have actually done better on Phoenix’s home ice, where they’ve won four straight and are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.

As we’ve said before, we give all the credit in the world to the Phoenix Coyotes’ hockey operations people for putting a competitive team on the ice with all of the outside distractions surrounding the team’s ownership.  Unfortunately, this is a matchup where Calgary has dominated them in the past and enter the game in top form.  Kiprusoff has a 11-5-1 lifetime mark against Phoenix with a 2.34 goals against average against Phoenix, and he should improve on both numbers against a Coyotes’ squad that has trouble ‘putting the biscuit in the basket’.  They Coyotes average only 2.44 goals per game have lived and died with the solid netminding of Ilya Bryzgalov who is 8-3 with a 1.88 goals against average this season.

Again, the ‘under’ is a decent play here but an even better play in our estimation is to take Calgary at a small chalk price to win the game.

PLAY CALGARY -130 OVER PHOENIX

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3. NHL Hockey Free Picks for 12/19/09–Into the Fire
4. NHL betting free picks for Monday: Avalanche vs. Flames
5. NHL Betting Free Picks For Sunday: Chicago Fire